Daycare costs are almost half my salary

I have a decent career in the insurance world and make decent money. I'm still on my leave, going back in November. I found a good daycare right near my office and did the math - looks like it will be almost 50% of my take home pay to cover costs - a bit less bit close. Is this typical? It hurts me to think that I'm letting someone else be with my baby all day while I work and then get half of my salary. Have you all experienced this? Should I quit? We can get by on one salary for a while. I'm confused. Can you tell? :)

Comments (89)

We live in an expensive area, but daycare wouldn't have taken up half my salary, I choose to be a SAHM because I want to raise my kids, not have someone else. If I had to go back to work we would have gotten a nanny, putting a baby in a "high end center" is not for me.

Pharm.D.Plus3 - your post makes me really sad. You really value your "career" and the traction you hope to gain too much in my opinion. If something were to happen to you they would replace you tomorrow. So while you choose them first, I highly doubt the company/association would choose an individual before their own needs. Yes, a 401k is nice, but there are other ways to save for retirement.

There are some companies out there that reimburse day care expenses. FaceBook is one of them and Google has free onsite childcare. Wish I worked for one of them! The facility where my partner worked had a great insite childcare but they cost $375 per week. My partner has since quit her job to be a SAHM.

Ditto the person who said they have to think of the long run and not just their salary vs. daycare costs. I also carry our insurance and wanted to keep my "place" on the 'ladder', if you will. It wont always be like this. Eventually (though it seems very far off now!) our LOs will be out of daycare and into K!

Are there any childcare scholarships that you can apply for in your state? My state has a scholarship with a sliding fee scale so that if you qualify for the scholarship you have a co-pay for childcare. People who make more have a bigger co-pay, people who make less pay less for a co-pay. It helps a lot since I am 1.5 years away from graduating college. Putting 3 kids in daycare would have cost us over 1800 a month, which is nearly 3/4 of DH's pay.

mccooey17...being a SAHM doesn't make you a better mother. Woman that work outside the home are still "raising" there kids just as much as a woman that stays home. Do you think that just because you spend more time in the home with your child, you are "raising" them? Obviously you know very little on what it takes to raise a child...it is a lot more than spending a quantity of time with them. I am going to ignore you naivety, because I am going to assume you don't know any better.